Common clownfish going crazy

ZakREEF · 08/29/2016, 05:51 PM

I bought a pair of common clownfish (juveniles, about 1 1/2 inches) 4 days ago. Everything seemed fine for the first few hours. This changed on the second day, they both started hiding in the back where I couldn't see them. They barely moved from the back and wouldn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed them.

On the third day it was mostly the same however I took a trip to my LFS and they gave me some free pellets to give to my clowns. My clowns loved the pellets.

It is now the fourth day and they seem to have come out to the front however sometimes when I approach the tank they dart back to their hiding spot.

Anyways, on to the real question:
When I turn my lights off for the night, they start going crazy - they start darting all over the place and just wont calm down. I'm worried about them. Is this normal behaviour?

Tank parameters are as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Ph : 8.2
Alkalinity : 8
Salinity 1.022 - I'm using one of those hydrometers that bobbs up and down in the water
Cycling method: I used dr tims one and only which cycled my tank in two days. I I Tested twice a day to make sure it was cycling

SeaCucumberFan · 08/29/2016, 06:00 PM

How "crazy" is he? Does he just calmly swim or does he swim super fast? Does he have an anemone? There is no such thing as a 2 day cycle. No. Just no.

Scurvy Dawg · 08/29/2016, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZakREEF

I bought a pair of common clownfish (juveniles, about 1 1/2 inches) 4 days ago. Everything seemed fine for the first few hours. This changed on the second day, they both started hiding in the back where I couldn't see them. They barely moved from the back and wouldn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed them.

On the third day it was mostly the same however I took a trip to my LFS and they gave me some free pellets to give to my clowns. My clowns loved the pellets.

It is now the fourth day and they seem to have come out to the front however sometimes when I approach the tank they dart back to their hiding spot.

Anyways, on to the real question:
When I turn my lights off for the night, they start going crazy - they start darting all over the place and just wont calm down. I'm worried about them. Is this normal behaviour?

Tank parameters are as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Ph : 8.2
Alkalinity : 8
Salinity 1.022 - I'm using one of those hydrometers that bobbs up and down in the water
Cycling method: I used dr tims one and only which cycled my tank in two days. I I Tested twice a day to make sure it was cycling

I have had bashful clowns before and they usually come out of it. Never seen the lights out freak out though. In my experience, the clowns I have had seemed to be calmer with the lights out.

2 day cycle?! - call me extremely skeptical.

Frostyfishman · 08/29/2016, 06:20 PM

Check for ammonia

ZakREEF · 08/29/2016, 06:52 PM

I tested my water again
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0

The cycle does seem quite fast and I was sceptical before I tried it aswell. I thought I might as well try it. It seems to have worked but I am taking things very slow just to be in the safe side

ZakREEF · 08/29/2016, 06:53 PM

Also there is no anemone in my tank. By "crazy" I mean he just won't stop darting around.
I'm really Not sure what's wrong

Dkuhlmann · 08/30/2016, 04:24 AM

The only way to really test a cycle is to add ammonia to 2 ppm and then see if it goes to 0 in a 24 hr period. DO NOT do this with any livestock in your tank.

I think as you add fish your clowns will calm down. Think of it like this. In the wild if a fish looks around and doesn't see other fish this is a signal to them that there is danger lurking and need to hide. If they see other fish out and about it's safe to be out.

I doubt the 2 day cycle and I seriously doubt that you have 0 nitrates.

ReefsandGeeks · 08/30/2016, 04:56 AM

Some of my fish id this initially, though not my clownfish. They did eventually calm down.

I'd feed on the light side to try to limit the bioload since you have the apparently quick cycle.

ZakREEF · 08/30/2016, 07:23 AM

thanks for the help guys.
Also the cycle was probably more around a week because I added live sand on day one but added the dr tims cycling product at day 4

ZakREEF · 08/30/2016, 07:24 AM

What other fish can I get with my clowns. My tank is only 30 gallon/120litres and I've never had a small(er) tank before this one

niladride · 08/30/2016, 08:11 AM

^

Live bottled bacteria can cycle your tank instantly, so thats not an issue. I have seen LFS using seachem pristine and stability with great effect at the time of new stock arrival. Just check your water parameters regularly, every next day for a month to be on the safe side.
What kit are you using to test?

ZakREEF · 08/30/2016, 08:47 AM

I'm using a Red Sea marine care test kit - it's the only one my LFS sells for marine tanks

niladride · 08/30/2016, 09:33 AM

^

Assuming that you made no manual error during testing, the results are very much accurate for Red Sea kits, so your tank is indeed cycled. Red Sea is a reputed company.

Cymonous · 08/30/2016, 10:20 AM

There is no such thing as an "Instant Cycle". Even if you use bacteria in a bottle, you still need to add an ammonia source for the bacteria to feed, process through the actual cycle and spread.

I have used the bacteria in a bottle and added about 3ppm of Ammonia. It still took two weeks for all of the ammonia and nitrites to go to 0.

Unless you used live rock that was already cycled and kept wet the whole time from its source to your tank, your tank is NOT CYCLED.

ZakREEF · 08/30/2016, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cymonous

There is no such thing as an "Instant Cycle". Even if you use bacteria in a bottle, you still need to add an ammonia source for the bacteria to feed, process through the actual cycle and spread.

I have used the bacteria in a bottle and added about 3ppm of Ammonia. It still took two weeks for all of the ammonia and nitrites to go to 0.

Unless you used live rock that was already cycled and kept wet the whole time from its source to your tank, your tank is NOT CYCLED.

I do think my tank is cycled because my results seem to be spot on?

lifeoffaith · 08/30/2016, 02:57 PM

What he's saying is that you need an ammonia source to have a true cycle in the tank. If there is no ammonia source, then you might read zero because there is no ammonia that the bacteria needs to break down. Once you add fish, the ammonia levels will build up. Adding two fish to a 30 gallon tank will cause ammonia to build up and you should get a reading eventually. Hopefully there is still enough bacteria to take care of enough ammonia that you don't have any fish die, but bacteria will adjust to how much ammonia is in the water. This is why even a well developed tank typically doesn't do well adding multiple fish at the same time. The tank is set up to handle the bio-load that is already in the tank; in your case zero bio-load. Depending on when you added the bacteria there should be enough bacteria there to break down some of the ammonia, just hopefully there is enough there to handle enough of the ammonia to not cause problems.

xCry0x · 08/30/2016, 03:51 PM

If they fish are eating I would not be too concerned. If your lights instantly go on/off the rapid change might cause them to freak out but they will get used to it.

As for the cycle -- people dramatically over react and over complicate the process there -.- It sounds like your tank is fine.

jstack · 08/30/2016, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZakREEF

I bought a pair of common clownfish (juveniles, about 1 1/2 inches) 4 days ago. Everything seemed fine for the first few hours. This changed on the second day, they both started hiding in the back where I couldn't see them. They barely moved from the back and wouldn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed them.

On the third day it was mostly the same however I took a trip to my LFS and they gave me some free pellets to give to my clowns. My clowns loved the pellets.

It is now the fourth day and they seem to have come out to the front however sometimes when I approach the tank they dart back to their hiding spot.

Anyways, on to the real question:
When I turn my lights off for the night, they start going crazy - they start darting all over the place and just wont calm down. I'm worried about them. Is this normal behaviour?

Tank parameters are as follows:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Ph : 8.2
Alkalinity : 8
Salinity 1.022 - I'm using one of those hydrometers that bobbs up and down in the water
Cycling method: I used dr tims one and only which cycled my tank in two days. I I Tested twice a day to make sure it was cycling

lol they are young clowns right? turn off 1 PH if you have 2 for a few nights let them get used to reef current it's a total trip going from almost stand still water in holding to tank's to full out reef.xD

ZakREEF · 08/30/2016, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jstack

lol they are young clowns right? turn off 1 PH if you have 2 for a few nights let them get used to reef current it's a total trip going from almost stand still water in holding to tank's to full out reef.xD

Yes they are young clowns - I think about 4 months old. The clowns I got were in the shop for a month with quite a lot of flow so I don't think it would be an issue. I'll try it for a couple of nights to help them out. Thanks

ZakREEF · 08/30/2016, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xCry0x

If they fish are eating I would not be too concerned. If your lights instantly go on/off the rapid change might cause them to freak out but they will get used to it.

As for the cycle -- people dramatically over react and over complicate the process there -.- It sounds like your tank is fine.

Okay that's reassuring. I just don't want to stress them too much. My LFS uses dimmable lights ( I know because I recognised the model) however mine don't have a dimming feature.

As for the cycle, Im quite sure the tank is cycled because of my test results. Haha

xCry0x · 08/30/2016, 05:48 PM

The biggest thing is to ensure they are eating. New fish can be skittish for a while. A pair of unbonded clowns can also be awkward until one establishes dominance.

Then you will start to see one being submissive to the other and basically rolling over on its side and shaking its fins/twitching.

Then, ideally, they will bond, one becomes a female and then they start breeding and become tank tyrants trying to kill everything that gets near them.

That was the cycle of my clowns hah. They started attacking my hand, the water siphon, everything, once they started laying eggs.

And yea, sometimes I think the cycle police are worse than the tang police.

ZakREEF · 08/30/2016, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xCry0x

The biggest thing is to ensure they are eating. New fish can be skittish for a while. A pair of unbonded clowns can also be awkward until one establishes dominance.

They didn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed so my LFS gave me some free pellets to try and the pair seem to like them quite a lot.

xCry0x · 08/30/2016, 06:20 PM

My clowns were super easy, fed them for years with new life spectrum out of an auto feeder.

The only problem was the tank was on auto-pilot to the point where I started neglecting it. I find I enjoy feeding frozen food as it lets me interact w/ everything more.

I only use pellets now when I am out of town and need a way to keep the tank fed. My stupid Banggai Cardinal refuses to eat the pellets though, always is a hunger strike when I am out of town -.-.

CindyK · 08/30/2016, 08:07 PM

I have a brand new pair of clowns in QT, my first SW fish ever

. I just went in to check on them (I am worse than a new mom it is disgusting LOL) and I noticed similar behavior, they went from 0-60 when I turned on the lights in the room. They ate this morning and all parameters good, absolutely no problems so far. I think I woke them up.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

niladride · 09/01/2016, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cymonous

There is no such thing as an "Instant Cycle". Even if you use bacteria in a bottle, you still need to add an ammonia source for the bacteria to feed, process through the actual cycle and spread.

I have used the bacteria in a bottle and added about 3ppm of Ammonia. It still took two weeks for all of the ammonia and nitrites to go to 0.

Unless you used live rock that was already cycled and kept wet the whole time from its source to your tank, your tank is NOT CYCLED.

I did not get that. Cycling time is required to let grow the bacteria itself, not to let them have sufficient time to break the organics down. If you have added enough bacteria in the beginning that means your system has already got the bacteria needed to convert organics and this conversion gets performed instantly. Otherwise, even in well established tanks, we would have got NH3 readings always because this is produced always in the system.

I think you had more source of NH3 and you did not use recommended amount of bacteria.

Also these bacteria can live a s long as an year without food so that is not an issue at all.

08/29/2016, 05:51 PM	#1
ZakREEF Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: England Posts: 19	Common clownfish going crazy I bought a pair of common clownfish (juveniles, about 1 1/2 inches) 4 days ago. Everything seemed fine for the first few hours. This changed on the second day, they both started hiding in the back where I couldn't see them. They barely moved from the back and wouldn't eat the flakes I was trying to feed them. On the third day it was mostly the same however I took a trip to my LFS and they gave me some free pellets to give to my clowns. My clowns loved the pellets. It is now the fourth day and they seem to have come out to the front however sometimes when I approach the tank they dart back to their hiding spot. Anyways, on to the real question: When I turn my lights off for the night, they start going crazy - they start darting all over the place and just wont calm down. I'm worried about them. Is this normal behaviour? Tank parameters are as follows: Ammonia : 0 Nitrite : 0 Nitrate : 0 Phosphate : 0 Ph : 8.2 Alkalinity : 8 Salinity 1.022 - I'm using one of those hydrometers that bobbs up and down in the water Cycling method: I used dr tims one and only which cycled my tank in two days. I I Tested twice a day to make sure it was cycling

08/30/2016, 04:24 AM	#7
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	The only way to really test a cycle is to add ammonia to 2 ppm and then see if it goes to 0 in a 24 hr period. DO NOT do this with any livestock in your tank. I think as you add fish your clowns will calm down. Think of it like this. In the wild if a fish looks around and doesn't see other fish this is a signal to them that there is danger lurking and need to hide. If they see other fish out and about it's safe to be out. I doubt the 2 day cycle and I seriously doubt that you have 0 nitrates. __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

08/30/2016, 10:20 AM	#14
Cymonous My Clown Attacks Me Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Akron, OH Posts: 2,105	There is no such thing as an "Instant Cycle". Even if you use bacteria in a bottle, you still need to add an ammonia source for the bacteria to feed, process through the actual cycle and spread. I have used the bacteria in a bottle and added about 3ppm of Ammonia. It still took two weeks for all of the ammonia and nitrites to go to 0. Unless you used live rock that was already cycled and kept wet the whole time from its source to your tank, your tank is NOT CYCLED. __________________ 100 Gallon Long with 20L sump 10 Gallon Office Tank Current Tank Info: 2 False Percula Clowns, One Spot Foxface, Diamond Watchman Goby, Yellow Tail Damsel, Engineer Goby

08/30/2016, 08:07 PM	#24
CindyK Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 268	I have a brand new pair of clowns in QT, my first SW fish ever . I just went in to check on them (I am worse than a new mom it is disgusting LOL) and I noticed similar behavior, they went from 0-60 when I turned on the lights in the room. They ate this morning and all parameters good, absolutely no problems so far. I think I woke them up. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk __________________ Taking "there is no such thing as a stupid question" to a whole new level. Current Tank Info: 75 gal mixed reef under construction, 32 gal Biocube softies

08/29/2016, 06:00 PM	#2
SeaCucumberFan Moved On Join Date: May 2016 Location: Sleman, Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia Posts: 858	How "crazy" is he? Does he just calmly swim or does he swim super fast? Does he have an anemone? There is no such thing as a 2 day cycle. No. Just no.

08/29/2016, 06:20 PM	#4
Frostyfishman Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 216	Check for ammonia

08/29/2016, 06:52 PM	#5
ZakREEF Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: England Posts: 19	I tested my water again Ammonia: 0 Nitrite : 0 Nitrate : 0 The cycle does seem quite fast and I was sceptical before I tried it aswell. I thought I might as well try it. It seems to have worked but I am taking things very slow just to be in the safe side

08/29/2016, 06:53 PM	#6
ZakREEF Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: England Posts: 19	Also there is no anemone in my tank. By "crazy" I mean he just won't stop darting around. I'm really Not sure what's wrong

08/30/2016, 04:56 AM	#8
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	Some of my fish id this initially, though not my clownfish. They did eventually calm down. I'd feed on the light side to try to limit the bioload since you have the apparently quick cycle.

08/30/2016, 07:23 AM	#9
ZakREEF Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: England Posts: 19	thanks for the help guys. Also the cycle was probably more around a week because I added live sand on day one but added the dr tims cycling product at day 4

08/30/2016, 07:24 AM	#10
ZakREEF Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: England Posts: 19	What other fish can I get with my clowns. My tank is only 30 gallon/120litres and I've never had a small(er) tank before this one

08/30/2016, 08:11 AM	#11
niladride Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Kolkata, India Posts: 567	^ Live bottled bacteria can cycle your tank instantly, so thats not an issue. I have seen LFS using seachem pristine and stability with great effect at the time of new stock arrival. Just check your water parameters regularly, every next day for a month to be on the safe side. What kit are you using to test?

08/30/2016, 08:47 AM	#12
ZakREEF Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: England Posts: 19	I'm using a Red Sea marine care test kit - it's the only one my LFS sells for marine tanks

08/30/2016, 09:33 AM	#13
niladride Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Kolkata, India Posts: 567	^ Assuming that you made no manual error during testing, the results are very much accurate for Red Sea kits, so your tank is indeed cycled. Red Sea is a reputed company.

08/30/2016, 02:57 PM	#16
lifeoffaith Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Grand Rapids MI area Posts: 737	What he's saying is that you need an ammonia source to have a true cycle in the tank. If there is no ammonia source, then you might read zero because there is no ammonia that the bacteria needs to break down. Once you add fish, the ammonia levels will build up. Adding two fish to a 30 gallon tank will cause ammonia to build up and you should get a reading eventually. Hopefully there is still enough bacteria to take care of enough ammonia that you don't have any fish die, but bacteria will adjust to how much ammonia is in the water. This is why even a well developed tank typically doesn't do well adding multiple fish at the same time. The tank is set up to handle the bio-load that is already in the tank; in your case zero bio-load. Depending on when you added the bacteria there should be enough bacteria there to break down some of the ammonia, just hopefully there is enough there to handle enough of the ammonia to not cause problems.

08/30/2016, 03:51 PM	#17
xCry0x Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Martinez, CA Posts: 1,116	If they fish are eating I would not be too concerned. If your lights instantly go on/off the rapid change might cause them to freak out but they will get used to it. As for the cycle -- people dramatically over react and over complicate the process there -.- It sounds like your tank is fine.

08/30/2016, 05:48 PM	#21
xCry0x Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Martinez, CA Posts: 1,116	The biggest thing is to ensure they are eating. New fish can be skittish for a while. A pair of unbonded clowns can also be awkward until one establishes dominance. Then you will start to see one being submissive to the other and basically rolling over on its side and shaking its fins/twitching. Then, ideally, they will bond, one becomes a female and then they start breeding and become tank tyrants trying to kill everything that gets near them. That was the cycle of my clowns hah. They started attacking my hand, the water siphon, everything, once they started laying eggs. And yea, sometimes I think the cycle police are worse than the tang police.

08/30/2016, 06:20 PM	#23
xCry0x Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Martinez, CA Posts: 1,116	My clowns were super easy, fed them for years with new life spectrum out of an auto feeder. The only problem was the tank was on auto-pilot to the point where I started neglecting it. I find I enjoy feeding frozen food as it lets me interact w/ everything more. I only use pellets now when I am out of town and need a way to keep the tank fed. My stupid Banggai Cardinal refuses to eat the pellets though, always is a hunger strike when I am out of town -.-.